Lend me your ears!

SEA ANEMONES can de­tect a pass­ing prey with their vi­bra­tion-sen­si­tive hair cells that cover their ten­ta­cles. They have re­mark­able re­gen­er­a­tive prop­er­ties that al­low them to re­build their bod­ies. Re­searchers have found a cock­tail of pro­teins in the mu­cus coat­ing the bod­ies of sea anemones, which al­lows them to re­pair in­jured hair cells in less than eight min­utes. The ground-break­ing dis­cov­ery could lead to a treat­ment for pa­tients with acute hear­ing loss. Jour­nal of Ex­per­i­men­tal Biology, Au­gust 1